Disconnection
by KnightOfLelouch
Summary: All she ever wanted was a father, when Kotetsu is kidnapped by an unknown creature, the heroes race to find their missing comrade. Kotetsu is taken to a strange place where a girl spends her days fixing what others perceive as junk. Will the hero ever return home or is he trapped within the unknown space of junk. rated for language and possible adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

Disconnection; Chapter 1: Taken

It seemed like a regular night in the megalopolis city of Sternbild, as people seemed to be going about their daily schedules, when…

'Crash' people screamed in shock as something seemed to fall from the sky crashing into the freeways making the cars screech to a halt and sending dust and bits of concrete flying. As eyes turned to the giant dust cloud, a large silhouette began to emerge through the dust, once dispersed the figure appeared.

'Calling All Hero's! Calling all Hero's!' an alarm went out to all available heroes of an emergency in the downtown area, a high alert priority.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong Dad?" Keade asked, she and her father had been out for what he called a 'father daughter outing', to make up for not being available as much. She told him at first it wasn't necessary, she knew that he was busy as a hero, but Kotetsu had insisted that they spend the afternoon together. Even finishing up his work early so he had more time for his daughter.

"I thought I heard something?" he said scratching his head under his hat,

"Don't tell me your hearing is starting to be affected" she sighed

"Hey now, why does everyone always bring up my age, I'm not that…" he didn't even finish his sentence as the sound of a loud crash followed by screams of panic filled the air. Kotetsu turned as people screamed trying to run to safety, loud thumping could be heard and felt,

"What in the world?" suddenly something rounded the corner, it was large and metallic looking, with six long legs and a large tail that moved slowly behind it. With a an extending neck and an oval like head that moved back and forth quickly from side to side, the creature let out a loud screeching scream that sharded the glass from buildings and cars, even cracking the brick and cement.

"Dad what is that thing?" Keade asked as her father pushed her further behind him

The creature looked around the street, its visor like eyes scanning the crowed, going over face after face, person after person, as it continued to scan until

'Bang!' a large ball of fire struck the creatures head followed by a lightning strike, gust of high wind, and finished with strike of ice. The people looked in ah and cheered as the heroes arrived.

"Hey guys nice timing!" Kotetsu said

"Old man can't you go a minute without causing trouble" Barnaby said

"Eh, how could I be blamed for that thing" he said rather offended by the others comment

"Um guys could you two have your conversation later" Rock Bison called out, the heroes looked over to see the creature beginning to rise, unaffected by the onslaught of attacks from the other heroes.

"Persistent" Barnaby inquired as he watch the creature

"Tough guy huh?" Rock Bison smirked reeving his drills up, "Let's see how you do against brute force, here I come!" he roared and charged toward the creature. The creature scanned the incoming attack,

'Scanning….Scan complete, launching counter measure' with a flash of its eyes, a light encased around it

"What's it doing?"

"Take this!" Rock Bison roared but as he got close, in a flash of light Rock Bison was halted

"What the hell!?"

"A force field?"

As the hero tried to moved forward the forced became too great he was sent flying back skidding across the pavement before landing with a bang.

"Ah dammit…" he groaned

"Rock Bison!?"

"Alright is my turn!" Blue Rose declared activating her powers, "Time for you to chill out!" with a burst a blue energy was sent toward the creature, releasing a roar as it made contact and began freezing around it…

'Scanning….Scan Complete, initiating counter measure' soon the creature was incased in a large block of solid eyes. Blue Rose gave a short sigh rather exhausted from using so much of her NEXT powers,

"Good job sweetie!" Fire Emblem said

"Heh, no problem I…huh?" a sizzling his escaped the ice block, a red energy seemed to leak from the creature, melting the ice. The heroes watched as the ice cracked sending ice shards flaying down.

"Everyone take cover!" Barney yelled, in an instant people were ducking for cover from the failing ice shards, Kotetsu scoped up his daughter before quickly taking cover behind an over turned car. The ice shards were sticking out of the ground and various objects,

Blue Rose looked to make sure everyone was okay, when suddenly she was struck from the side by one of the cratures arms sending her flying backwards crashing into the ground.

"Blue Rose!"

"I'm fine…" she groaned clutching her arm, staggering to stand, "Just caught me by surprise…" she said

"Attacking a lady in such a manner, prepare to feel the justice of Sky High!" the wind hero declared before rocketing toward the creature. With a series of acrobatic maneuvers, Sky High was able to land a serious of attacks on the creature.

"Good work Sky High, keep it distracted!" Barnaby said, the Hero gave a salute understanding before continuing his assault.

"Listen, Fire Emblem, Dragon Kid get Blue Rose and Rock Bison to a safe place"

"On it!"

"Sure Handsome~"

"Origami Cyclone get as many as you can to a safe place"

"I'll go assist Sky High!" as the hero's went about their duties, Dragon Kid and Fire Emblem went to go help their other teammates as Barnaby and Edward prepared to help Sky High.

"Hey Bunny!" a voice called as Kotetsu came running up to the other

"Old man what are you doing?"

"Hey what's with all that? I'm still a hero you know"

"Don't be foolish, your powers only work for one minute" Barnaby reminded the other, "Besides this creature is nothing to play at, I don't need you risking your life" he said, suddenly there was a 'whoosh' of air as something crashed behind them, as they looked back they saw Sky High dented into a car head hung low possibly from unconsciousness.

"Whoa…" the creature let out another roared as it began to advance upwards.

"Dammit" Barnaby growled, "Kotetsu get out of here now!"

"But what about you?" it was true he was worried about his former partner after seeing so many of his friends and comrades taken down so easily. The monster lifted one of its hands and prepared to attack, falling at a high rate, Barnaby quickly activated his Plus One Hundred Power increasing his strength as the attack made contact. With his advanced strength he was able to catch and hold up the large appendage. As he continued to hold it back, the creature continued to add pressure to the other, the force cracking the ground and ultimately the armor.

'Bunny can't hold it for much longer' Kotetsu thought fearfully as he watched the other struggle to hold the attack.

"AHHHH!" he groaned beginning to lose his holding, suddenly there was a shift in the weight, Barnaby looked to the side to see none other than, "Kotetsu!?"

"Hey there Bunny, though you could us a hand" he smirked holding up the attack, his next powers activating,

"What the hell are you doing? I told you to get to a safe place" he said as the other male just smirk loosely, "Heh, you know me, always gotta be the hero" he said, "Damn this is starting to get heavy" he groaned feeling his power loosen.

"You need to get out of here, your minute is almost up" he groaned, in truth his five minutes were almost gone as well and the pressure was becoming too much.

"What kind of partner would I be if I left…my friend in this kind of situation?" he groaned, "Besides that's not the…thing…Wild Tiger does…."

Suddenly the pressure stopped and the arm moved back to the creature's side, the heroes gave a sigh of relief, but then looked at the creature…

"Um…what just happened?"

'Scanning….Facial Recognition Verified, Wild Tiger-Kotetsu T. Kaburagi….proceeding to capture' with a sudden jolt the creature let out another roar.

'It's going to attack!' Barnaby pushed Kotetsu out of the way just in time as it rounded, its tail hitting Barneby who was sent flying into the wall of the building.

"Ahh Bunny!?" Kotetsu called out after seeing his partner sent flying by the creature, "Are you okay?" he called out seeing his partner lying under a bunch of rubble.

"Hold on here I…" suddenly he was stopped when one of the creatures arms cut him off, with a sudden halt Kotetsu looked up at the creature, it's head beginning to descend towards him until he was face level with it.

"Now then big guy let's be civil here" he said almost jokingly, but with no NEXT power and being boxed in he had little option…as the creature stared at him, its eyes began to glow an eerie light of mixed colors and hues.

"What the…" Kotetsu blinked staring into the colored lights unable to look away, drawn into it by a strange force…

Barnaby rose from the rubble, sliding his helmet plat up he gave a quick cough, blood dripping from his mouth, "Kotetsu…?" did he move in time

It was then he saw his partner, gazing at the creature,

"Kotetsu!" he called out to his partner, why was he just standing there, he should be running away

'You are….father' with a sudden flash Kotetsu's eyes flashed the colored hues before becoming a lax hazy amber…

"Yes…take me to…my daughter" with a sudden gasp the male fainted falling onto one of the creatures large hands.

"No!" Barnaby yelled, ignoring the pain, he quickly stood and quickly moving to go save his partner, his suit sparked and crackled from the battle damage only allowing him to stagger forward. Suddenly fire began to emit from the bottom of the creatures legs, creating a rocket like take off, Barnaby shielded himself from the emission as the creature lifted off and flew away with Kotetsu in hand.

"Kotetsu! Kotetsu!" Barnaby yelled, unable to do anything, but watched the creature fly away with his partner and friend, he felt so helpless, "KOTETSU!" he cried out as he stood in the middle of the wreckage of the battle. With a slump, he sat on a large piece of debris from the wall he crashed into, removing his helmet he ran his hands over his hair trying vainly to remain calm. How could this have happen, the realization was beginning to take his toll on his nerves, Kotetsu had been taken by some giant robotic monstrosity.

"Barnaby!" a voice called, looking to the side he called to see the rest of the Hero's running towards him along with Kaede right at the front.

"Where'd did the creature go?" Rock Bison question looking around the creature and obviously ready to fight.

"It's gone" Barnaby said with a low breath, "It escaped" the heroes rather depressed at the news, though there was nothing they could do about it they still felt rather bad after being defeated so easily.

"Where's my dad?" Kaede asked not seeing her father anywhere

"Hey where is Wild Tiger?" Bison asked not seeing his partner anywhere, all eyes soon turned to Barnaby who seemed stone faced at the moment.

"Barnaby….where's Kotetsu?" again the blond ran his hand through his hair trying to figure out how to tell them, especially Kaede about the old man.

"Kotetsu….that creature…"

"Hey don't leave us in the dark, what happened to Wild Tiger!" Bison demanded not liking the others look or silence.

"The creature took Kotetsu" he deadpanned sadly, "He was kidnapped", as the he spoke everyone gave looks of shook

"No….No" Blue Rose crumbled to the ground unable to accept the news

"Dammit it!" Bison yelled anger present in his voice, "I should I been here" he growled as the hero's began to dwell, thinking the worst of their friends state.

'Kotetsu'

…To Be Continued…..

Next time; Father


	2. Chapter 2

Disconnection; Chapter 2: Father

'All I wanted was your love, to look at me and smile, but all you did was frown and turn away before throwing me away, like useless junk'

The world was bath in a red sky, the ground itself was a sea of parts, big and small, that rained from the sky like a fountain as a weird hum that seemed to float through the air.

In a small area of metal plates and bars, almost like a house resting on dunes of melted metal and gears that turned like the mechanism of clock. Inside a large bedroom that only held a bed surround open space and a few small pieces of robots, gears, and tools lying about. On the bed was a figure lay amongst the a few pieces of parts and papers. With short green hair with a wire bow with prongs in the back, they wore a white sleeveless top dress.

Green eyes looked up to the ceiling, legs kicking up and down like, her mind drifted of its own self, dreaming. But what did she dream? She dreamed of many things, different things, but the one thing she dreamed of most was a father. Sometimes when she wasn't fixing the broken pieces that continued to cascade to the ground, she would watch the world from the screens. Her favorite was watching these people, heroes they were called. Her favorite, one called Wild Tiger, when she saw him she felt a warm feeling in herself. When he saved all the people and did his famous pose and spoke his catchphrase always seemed put a smile on her face.

'I bet he's a good father'

She dreamed being woken up with a smile, warm and loving, being called for breakfast on the table before she went to school, being taken to the park and playing on the swings. She liked the swings, it was almost like flying. Laughing as strong hands pushed her higher and higher. She even dreamed of sleeping, embraced in strong arms protecting her. But sadly, her dreams were only that…dreams, she wake up alone surrounded by the broken pieces that were slowly drowning her and embracing her in cold metal. With a sigh she curled into her side, becoming a ball

Soft steps walking across the floor, over the gears and parts until they reached the bed. Setting down, tanned hands slowly reached up touching the light green hair. Green eyes blinked, with a hum she peered to the side. As she looked over, her eyes widened before sitting up to look at the figure before them.

"You…you…" she stammered looking at the older male, amber eyes, tan skin, catlike beard and vibrant smile.

"Your…" it was a whisper, "Are you real?" reaching up, small fingers touched tan skin, cold contrasting with warm. Her palm running over his cheek,

"You are real…" she said with a happy disbelief, her eyes twinkling in awe seeing the man, the one she dreamed about, who she watched day after day. The male nodded, the little girl was silent, than she trembled, tensing,

"You're real!" she exclaimed jumping into the others chest, rubbing happily into the warm body. Strong arms wrapped around her incasing her in a warm embrace.

"Just like I dreamed" she whispered as she rested on the chest

"That's right…" the male said, "Let your father protect you" he hummed, green eyes looked upwards at the others words

"Father?" it felt so foreign as she spoke it, the man smiled and nodded warmly

"My name is Kotetsu, I'm your papa!" he grinned rather goofily, but the girls eyes lit up all the same

"Yeah, Daddy!" she cheered again hugging him, "I…I'm so happy!" she sniffled, "I always wanted a cool papa and now I do and now you're here and I'm so happy…" she spoke quickly

"Now, now no need for that" he said patting her head calmly, "You're very energetic" he said as the girl smiled

"I like it!" he laughed as she laughed too

"So what do you want to do with papa?" he asked, the girl cocked her head in question

"What do daughters do with papa's?" she asked, this was really her first father, well the first father who wanted anything to do with her.

"Well, how about this! Upsie!" with a surprised yell the little girl felt herself being hoisted in the air by strong arms, surprise quickly turned to laughs and giggles as she was held in the air, green meeting amber, filling the rooms with laughs.

Back in Sternbild, as clean up continued, the hero's had returned to Hero's TV station forgoing any and all interviews. Right now they were packed into Lloyds office everyone was talking over everyone else,

"Alright, everyone calm down" the CEO said, "Now listen I know your all worried about Kotetsu, but everyone needs to settle down"

"How can you tell us to settle down!?", Antonia bellowed, "My best friends been kidnapped by some mechanical monstrosity!"

"Who knows what's happening to Tiger while we're just standing here doing nothing!" Karina added obviously not happy

"We should be searching for Wild Tiger, again we need to search for our comrade!" Keith said as again everyone started to talk over each other again.

"Listen I get that your all upset, I'm just as worried about Kotetsu as all of you" the CEO said, "But as of now we have no leads on his or that 'creatures' where about"

"How hard is it to find a giant six leg robot?"

"Enough, until we gather more information I'm afraid theres nothing can be done" he said sadly trying to remain calm

"That's unacceptable!" a usually calm voice of Nathan said slamming his hands on the desk, his eyes burning with fire and ice, "Do you expect us to just sit on our thumbs while Tiger is out there?!"

"No that's…"

"Then what!? I don't know about any of you but I'm not going to wait around!" he declared

"He's right!" Antonia said nose flaring like a raging bull, "I going to find Kotetsu!" he declared

"I'm going too!"

"Me too!"

"Yeah!" everyone were fired up, all agreeing that waiting around wasn't going to help anything. Kotetsu, their friend, comrade, fellow hero, father figure, not so secret love interest…was out there and possibly in danger.

"I see, I guess there's no stopping any of you" Lloyd sighed, though he didn't seem upset by it knowing none of them would sit around while a friend was in trouble.

"Hold on?" eyes turned to the usually silent Ivan, "Where's Barnaby?" in all the commotion no one noticed Barnaby, Kotetsu partner wasn't in the room.

"Oh, Barnaby is with Agnes, he wanted to review the footage captured from today's battle" Lloyd explained

Down in the main studio amongst the many screens Barnaby, Agnes, and her camera crew were all watching any and all video tapes taken during the battle. Along with Hero TV footage, there were some business and various other security tapes that were salvaged and showed various angles.

"Okay this is the footage before Kotetsu was taken" Agnes pointed to the screen, there was Barnaby pushing Kotetsu out of the way before being slammed into the wall. Next showed Kotetsu trying to go to Barnaby's aid only to be stopped by the creature, then it looked like the old man was just standing there and then minutes later he fainted before being taken away, that part was the hardest to watch.

"Why did kidnapped Kotetsu?" it didn't really make much sense, though at this point he didn't want to know who would build a creature just to kidnapped one person.

"It's strange" pressing a few buttons the tap replied right until the moment the creatures was looked directly at Kotetsu. With a press of another button it zoomed in on the creatures face,

"I've been studying the creature that took Kotetsu" Saito said softly as he turned from his screen, "Sky High was able to break a piece of the creature's armor like skin, after a quick analysis I have to say I'm almost speechless" he said looking at the other heroes as they gathered into the lab

"What did you find Dr. Saito?"

"Well it's perplexing" pressing a button a picture appeared on the screen, "You see…this the armor examined under a micro-scope, as you can see not only does it have a metallic outer layer but…on the inside there's an organic network off what appears to be a cell and nerve structure"

"Um English"

"Oh sorry, in other words the creature is an mechanical organic, a hybrid of both a living organism and machine" the room was filled with gasps over the information

"Wait so you mean this…that thing was alive?"

"Quite, but it's only a hypothesis, I'll to do more studying" he said

"Until then, have you made any progress locating Wild Tiger?"

"Hm, well" again he went to his screens pulling up a giant, "As you can, Wild Tigers wrist band gave off a faint location" he said pointing to the moving icon of the hero, "After crossing this point…it vanished"

"Wait so it just disappeared just like that"

"It's strange, when I tried to establish a link for a location the signal kept getting scrambled"

"Well we now have a location, we should gather a team to go search the area!"

Back in the unknown area,

"Did you have fun today?" Kotetsu asked tucking the little girl into bed, she smiled giving a small, cute yawn and nodded

"I had a good day papa" she said as the man smiled placing a kiss on her forehead

"Goodnight my sweet little angel" he said

"Will you be here when I wake up?" she asked as the male gave a small chuckle

"Of course! Papa will be right here!" he said with a reassured smile as the girl gave another small yawn

"That's good…good night papa" with a small hum she drifted off to sleep as her papa watched over her.

To be continued….

Next Time; Error


	3. Chapter 3

Disconnection; Chapter 3: Error

Mistakes are a natural part of life, nothing is ever completed or corrected with errors, big and small; they exist. When you accept the errors and face the mistakes, it doesn't mean you failed…

As the two figures laid in the bed, the green haired girl was snuggled safely to the chest on the man she called father. As they slept, Kotetsu would occasionally twist and turn, giving soft murmurs as his face contorted and small beads of sweat pulled down his forehead. In his dreams different visions would flash for seconds at a time, they seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't place his finger on it. But what confused him more was none of the scenes had his daughter in it, not one of the green haired girl who smiled at him and looked at him with those circular lined eyes.

As he continued to dream, in the outside of reality something watched the two as they slept, it's glowing neon eyes staring from the girl to the male with confliction written on his face. A bright light, luminous and colorful twinkled and in a moment the male seemed to calm.

The pictures and vision seemed to twist and turn, warping to include hues of green. Holding a small baby with light green hair, swaddled in a baby blanket, a content look on the babies face. Then the images began to go, like a time line, from feedings, diaper changes, first steps, playing outside in the park, festivals, birthdays, even fixing small scrapes and bruises. There was even a time of going to the first day of school. As the images planned in their mind, a serene smile played on the girls face,

'Papa' she yawned and cuddled closer to the warm chest

Back in Sterbild the heroes were on high alert, the search was on for the missing Wild Tiger, the media from the creatures attack was still playing from last night and cleanup was on going after the creature's rampage. Though the hero's did their duties protecting the city, but their main priority was finding their friend and fellow hero.

At Hero TV Station Agnes and her crew were reviewing footage trying to find something that could lead them to whoever might have created the robot that snatched tiger. Dr. Saito was in his lab running any and all test on the part of the creature,

"Remarkable" he said softly, yet his voice held surprise, "Whatever this creature is, it's cell structure is amazing, while the outer layer is mechanical in nature, the cybernetic structure seems to be trying to repair itself" looking at the enlarged version of the part, he could see the cell structures moving and mending, like a cut collating in order to seal from infection.

At as him work station Barnaby was typing away frantically at his computer, with each press of the keys he search for any one that could have the capability to make such a creature. Luckily for him his late parents were great robotic engineers and there company had great information on some of the top companies with advancement in cybernetics and mechanics of any kind, but would have the skill to make something advanced as what came to the city.

So far he wasn't turning up anything that raised a red flag, most of it was small items, prosthetics, rockets for space shuttles, and drones for military use, nothing even close to what he was looking. With a groan he leaned back running his hands over his face,

"There must be something I'm missing" what could it be, he thought for sure that the robot was a military weapon possibly gone haywire or even stolen. But then that wouldn't explain why it took Kotetsu, what if it was Ouroboros, there was still unanswered questions surrounding the mysterious organization, with that said there was no telling what they were capable of.

"This is all so complicated" he sighed rubbing his temples before taking a deep breath, "But I can't give up now, Kotetsu's safety and possibly his life was on the line.

"Hold on old man, I'll find you, I promise" but he couldn't help but wonder, what kind of trouble his partner might be in.

A yell echoed through the metal fortress like home as sounds of blasting and shoots rang out,

"Ah!" Kotetsu groaned a frown on his face,

"Papa are you okay?" the little girl asked

"I…I lost again" he sighed, on the screen a 'you lose' sign flashed on and off, he had been playing a two player space game with her daughter, "I'm afraid I'm not good at games" he said sadly, on his lap the little girl kicked her legs back and forth,

"It's okay Papa, it's alright to fail sometimes" the little girl said patting his head, "Every error has a solution!" Kotetsu smiled at this

"Look at you saying such grown up things" he chuckled ruffling her green hair, "Okay, let's go again!" he said ready for another game, suddenly there was a grumbling noise that caught in their ears, they looked down at their tummies, patting them,

"I'm hungry!", they looked up at each other and laughed

"I guess it is time for lunch" Kotetsu said standing up, carefully putting his daughter on the floor, "Come on let's go to the kitchen, papa will fix you a delicious meal"

"Yeah!" taking the others hand the two went downstairs, after making it to the kitchen Kotetsu found an apron to wear, there was even one for his daughter as well who watched and listened as her father began to cook.

"Okay papa going to make you my special rice fried rice!" he exclaimed happily

"What makes it so special papa?" she asked earnestly

"That's easy, it's made with love" he smiled happily with a wink

"I want papa's special rice!" she exclaimed

"Alright let's get started!" they cheered

It was nighttime in Sternbild, the heroes had returned to Hero TV after completing another mission, though most were not in a mood to even think about points.

"Have you guys heard anything on Tiger?" Karina asked as they sat in the lounge area

"Nothing" Antonio scoffed, "This is a complete waste of time. I should be out looking for my friend not sitting around" his voice holding agitation

"Don't be so blue dear, we're all worried about Tiger" Nathan said

"Has Dr. Saito learned anything new?"

"Don't know, he's basically been holed up in his lab" Bison sighed, "If I have to keep waiting on others I'm going to rampage!"

"Call down Antonio!" Karina said, "Everyone is worried just like you, but flying off the handle and yelling won't make anything better" she scolded the other

"Rose is right, we can't lose are cool~" Nathan agreed

"I guess you're right…" he groaned calling down a bit, "But I still don't like just standing around, it makes me feel useless…"

Suddenly the speakers came on,

"All Hero's please report to Lloyds office, I repeat report to Lloyds office immediately!" the usually soft voice of Dr. Saito boomed over the speakers.

"What was that all about?" not wasting anytime the hero's quickly sprinted out of the room and headed towards the office.

"What do you think the emergency is?"

"I don't know but it must be urgent to call an emergency meeting" as the moved down the hallway, a head of blond caught their attention.

"Hey isn't that Barnaby?" Karina said

"Hey Barnaby!" the male in question turned to see the others coming toward him

"Where are you all rushing off too?" he asked

"Dr. Saito called everyone to Mr. Lloyd's office" Karina explained

"Apparently it's something urgent" Antonio added

"Coming along handsome"

"Right" he nodded and all four hero's headed towards the office, once there they were met with not only Lloyd and Dr. Saito, but Keith, Pao-Lin, and Ivan as well.

"Lloyd what's the emergency" Barnaby questioned

"That's what I would like to know" the CEO said as a look of confusion came onto everyone's face

"Huh?"

"Wait didn't you call us here?" Lloyd gave one shake of his head,

"Hold on, we definatly heard Dr. Saito over the intercom and told us to come to your office" Karina said

"I never made any announcement like that" Dr. Saito said, "I got a message from Mr. Brooks saying there was something wrong with his suit that he needed to discuss" he explained

"I never made a call like that" Barnaby spoke adjust his frames, "I came up here because you said you had some new piece information on the creature" he said looking at Dr. Saito

Something was not right and the room was beginning to feel with an uneasy doubt

"Something's fishy going on here"

"If Lloyd didn't call us here…"

"And Dr. Saito didn't"

"And Barnaby didn't"

"Then who did!?"

"Dr. Saito!" pressing a button on his head gear he answered the call

"Hello what is it?"

"Sir we have a problem"

"A problem?" he said with great concern

"Someone broke into the lab!"

"What!?"

"We don't know how it happened"

"Calm down, did they take anything? Is anything missing?"

"Yes sir, the piece from the robot is missing"

"What!?" the group looked at each other noting the distress surround the doctor

"Alright I'll be right there" he said before pressing the button ending the call

"Dr. Saito what's wrong?"

Back in the mysterious location, Kotetsu and his daughter were having lunch,

"So how do you like papa's special rice?"

"I love it! Papa makes the best food!" she said shoveling the rice down

"That makes papa happy" he smiled, "Don't eat to fast or you'll choke" he warned, she took a large swallow and smiled, "Sorry but it's just so good!"

"You are just too precious" he said before dabbing a napkin wiping some food from her mouth

"What do you want to do for the rest of the day?" he asked, the girl gave a thinking look, "Um, oh can we go to the park today?" Kotetsu gave a chuckle and smiled, "Of course we can"

"You go get cleaned up, while I take care of things done here" he said as the girl nodded happily, "Okay papa!" jumping off the chair she made her way up to the stairs and back to her room. As she got her backpack and hummed as she packed supplies for the park,

"You seem happy today" a voice spoke

"Yeah me and papa Kotetsu are going to the park!" she said happily

"The park, how fun" the voice said amusingly, "But…"

"Huh what's wrong?"

"Oh I don't want to ruin your day, it's probably nothing"

"Tell me" she said almost despretly

"Well…it's about your 'father'"

"Papa? What's wrong with him?" she said worriedly

"It seems he's been…having worries"

"Worries"

"Yes, I'm afraid he's…upset" the voice stated, "He seems to be worried…I believe it's a concern for his powers…"

"Powers?"

"Yes, as you know dear child, he is Wild Tiger, a beloved hero to many including you"

"Right! I know" she said

"Yes" the voice chuckled, "But I've discovered something sad, his powers are beginning to fade, dewindling so to say" the voice said noting the girl's saddened face,

"But…even without his powers, he'll still be my papa, we'll still be a family"

"It just worries me, without his powers he could no longer be a hero, but worse than that what if his powers were to fade during mission, he could be hurt or worse…" the girls eyes widened becoming dark with dread and worry, what if her papa got hurt, what if he…if he…

"No…NoNoNo!" she shook her head frantically as tears welled up in her eyes at the thought,

"Sad, truly…if only there was a way too…increase his powers, perhaps even make them stronger, more permanent" the voice was leading, like a piper

"Huh?"

"If a cure was somehow found, that would surely make your 'papa' happy" they said

"But I…" she looked up, those green eyes shaded blue for a second before fading with a shake of her head, "Right! I'll make a cure for papa! I won't let anything hurt papa!" she declared

"That's a good girl…" the voice said sweetly, "By the way…how is my new body coming along?" it asked

"Oh, um it's almost ready, I just need a few more parts and you'll be all better!" she said smiling

"That's good, this body is a bit too restricting for me" the voice spoke, the words emitting from a metallic monkey doll on the chaster drawer, it was rather long resembling an old sock monkey, with metallic skin and large round eyes and a big smile on its face.

"It's time to go to the park!" Kotetsu called upstairs, "Are you almost ready?"

"Coming papa!" she called back

"I'll be back later, have a good day Mr. Maverick!" she said before leaving out the door

"Such a caring little girl" they chuckled, "But soon you'll learn your kindness, is the greatest error of all" they laughed

To Be Continued…

Next Time; Deception


	4. Chapter 4

Disconnection; Chapter 4; Deception

"What happened Dr. Saito?", right now the group was in Dr. Saito's lab, scientist in lab coats were moving around the laboratory taking inventory of anything else that might have been stolen.

"I'm afraid the lab has been robbed" he said as surprised looks came upon the group.

"Robbed? How can that be?"

"Well it's hard to say but…take a look at this" with a press of a few buttons a video began playing on the screen, "This is footage from the labs security system, as you can see someone managed to pass the guards and gain entry into the containment unit holding the specimen" they watched as the unknown figure checked in using his badge to pass the sensors before entry the containment area.

"Did anyone get a look at the person?" Barnaby questioned

"Well, some workers that were questioned in the building remembered seeing a tall male" Agnes spoke, "They remembered him having long dark gray hair and dark blue eyes and being rather tall and rather built…but that's all"

"What about their badge, doesn't all employees have to use a special id's in order to enter the lab?" Saito nodded, "That's correct but…"

"When we checked the records in coming's and out-goings of those entering the area, we noticed something odd" he said, "Apparently whoever got in used a special encrypted card in order to bypass the record system" he explained, "But what's most disturbing is the pass they used to get in" with a press of the button the computer began loading information onto the screen…

'_Identified! I.D Pass belonging to Wild Tiger!" _

"Papa Kotetsu?" the little girl called up to her father

"Yes?"

"Um…I wanted to ask you something…but…" her voice sounded shy and her feet twiddled on the floor

"Sweetie you can ask papa anything" he smiled, "Now what's bothering you?" he asked as the little girl smiled

"Well, it's about your powers…" she began, "I mean, I know you only have one minute left and this isn't really not that serious, but…" she suddenly stopped feeling a weight on her head, Kotetsu was gently rubbing her head,

"Now there's no need for all that" he said with a gentle smile, "Listen papa is happy, even having only one minute left on his powers"

"To have been able to help people and be a hero, that's what makes papa happy"

"But…what if you go on a mission and…you get really hurt because your powers go and won't come back!" she worried tears forming in her eyes

"Ah, I see" he said with realization, "You're worried about papa's wellbeing that makes me happy and a little sad because I'm making my little girl worry so much"

"I promise you, as a hero and your father, that I will always be with you. So don't be sad" he smiled gently wiping away the tears with his thumbs, "There no more tears"

"Thank you papa!" she said before being pulled into a big hug, as Kotetsu placed a kiss on her forehead

"See everything's okay now, Keade" green eyes blinked, first in shock which quickly turned to confusion

"Keade…who's that?" the little girl said

"Huh?"

'Who was that? Why did I think of that name?' he thought

Glass eyes watched the scene from the monitoring room in the girl's bedroom, the monitors able to peer and see any and all parts of the world around them.

"This could be a problem to my plans" the sock monkey watched as the two, the look of doubt and confusion ever present, "Even now my powers have grown weak, added to the fact I've been somehow forced reside in the body of a mere toy"

"Papa are you okay?" the little girl asked worriedly, amber eyes blinked, but a gentle smile formed

"Papa's fine, guess I got a little mixed up" he apologized, "I'm sorry, sweet heart. I know you can help me make dinner!"

"Really!"

"Yep, and after words we can have dessert!" her eyes lit up, "Papa will show you a special recipe I've been practicing!

"Hm, it seems the issue resolved itself" Maverick sighed in relief, "Though if it happens too many a times my plan will be ruined"

Back in the kitchen the little girl and Kotetsu were taking out supplies to start dinner,

"If too many of these occurrences continue to happen, those two could easily get their memories back" he gritted, it was easy enough to get the girls trust, her feeble kindness and loneliness was simple to manipulate and bend. Once he had her 'friendship' it was only a matter of convincing her to make him a new body, plus the fact that his powers were still intact, if not only minimal. But they did their purpose, now the girl was like clay on his hands, or his soon to be hands once she finished his new body.

"My plans will become true, with a new body I will take my vengeance!" a wicked laughed echoed through the room.

It was night now in Sternbild, though while many people were in bed, some were not. One being Barnaby Brooks Jr., standing in front of the large window, his blue eyes looked out into the city, somewhere out there was his partner, one of his best friends. His mind kept replaying the incident over and over again like a reel that kept tainting him,

"Damn it!" his fist made contact with the window, "If I had just been a little stronger, faster, I could have saved him"

'If anything happens to the old man…' he didn't want to think about it, but his mind would delve places that he refused to accept.

"Kotetsu…" as he looked back out into the city, the glass showing out, while reflecting in.

Blue eyes looked at the mirror, narrowing a bit as the figure appeared in the reflection

"Would you be Barnaby Brooks Jr.?" the figure spoke, their voice was rather deep and rough. They watched as the blond gave a slight turn to the side,

"That depends" he adjusted his glasses with his finger, "I might be, but then who are you…besides someone who broke into my house"

"Hn" blue eyes watched as the large figure removed his tan and metal jacket, long green teal hair fell out, he had a good complexion and steel gray eyes with an even harder demeanor and the most notable feature long scar that went across his face and over his right eye.

'Who is this guy?' he had to be careful, who knew what the guys purpose was

"I asked you a question, are you or are you not Barnaby Brooks Jr." he repeated as steely gray stared into hardened blue.

"Yes, I'm Barnaby" he said, "Now answer my question who are you and what are in doing in my apartment" he demanded as the two faced each other. With a quick movement of his hand he suddenly tossed something at Barnaby who seemed to catch it.

"What this?" as he looked at the card his eyes seemed to tense in surprise, "This is…" in his hands was the id card of his missing partner. After staring at the card at what seemed like forever before his gaze fell on the mysterious male currently standing in his living room.

"Where did you get this? Who are you?"

"That I cannot say now" he replied simply, "I'm afraid I must make this brief, know the one you call Kotetsu is alive and fine" Barnaby expression was a mix of surprise, relief, and more surprise.

"How do you know this?" he questioned

"Like I say I am…limited by how long I am able to talk with you" the man called Ore said, "Just know that Kotetsu health is not in immediate danger" he said

'This guy…'

"So then you know where he is, am I understanding you correctly" the man gave a short nod, "But you're not going to tell me where he is"

"I am afraid I am unable at this time, there are certain obstacles that prevent me from doing so" he began, "Know this once these obstacles interfere and threaten something we both care about"

"If that's true, then why not just stop it" Barnaby said

"No, there are too many errors that must be dealt with"

'There's something he's not telling, he's knows more then he's saying'

"My time is up, for now I must leave you" he said,

"Wait, you said we both have something we care about threatened, what's important to you"

Sparks flickered as the heated fire connected, wielding the metal and wires together, with a click the concentrated flame stopped, as the wielding helmet was pulled upwards revealing the young girls face,

"Just a couple more days" she breathed looking down at the metal and wires, "With everything I'm doing with papa I haven't been doing all my projects" she laughed a little and continued going through the wires and breakers.

"If I can't find a cure for papa's father, maybe I can make him a suit of armor to fight in" she thought about the suit she had seen him fight in.

"Yeah! It will have lots of gadgets like a rocket fist, and a jet pack!" as she contemplated more features of Kotetsu's fighting suit, in the kitchen Kotetsu was sitting on the couch. Though he was lounging there was a contemplating look on his face.

'It's strange, I know she's my daughter but…" he kept getting flashes, these visions of other people he couldn't place. Mostly of these groups of people smiling and laughter and sometimes scolding him. Hanging out in a bar, or around town, and one person in particular stood out a male with light blond curled hair, ocean blue eyes framed around thin glasses. He looked pretty, handsome even…though it felt weird thinking of another guy as handsome. Then there was these visions of this woman, when he saw her he felt…happy, but sad at the same time.

'Who are these people?' he was beginning to get a headache, sitting up he shook his head, patting his cheeks a couple of times.

"Get it together, Kotetsu" he told himself, "I can't get turned around now, I have a daughter to take care off" he resolved, even though he still felt that nagging feeling he decided to put them aside.

"Speaking of daughters, I wonder where mine went off too" standing up from the sofa he walked upstairs, step by step, until he reached the next floor.

"Maybe her bedroom" standing in front of the door, he grabbed the handle with a twist he pushed the door open,

"Hello, sweetie? Its dad" he called looking inside, small, little parts and gears on the floor mixed with a few scattered pieces of paper.

"For a little girl she sure is busy" he said picking up some of the papers he looked over the papers, his amber eyes looking at the complicated designs and numbers, "This stuff looks hard, all these numbers and parts…" he hummed flipping through the pages,

"Dr. Saito or Barnaby would probably know more about this…huh?" he stopped, "Wait…who?" something seemed to click in his head allow the gears to moved forward. The haze of colors seemed to fade from his eyes,

'Ah!'

"I think I…I remember now!" he said with a look of realization, with that he dropped the papers and looked around the room in both confusion and…well mostly confusion.

"I need to find a way out of here"

"Oh going to soon, Mr. Kaburagi?" a voice spoke sending a chill down the older males spin

"That voice…can't be!" looking around he tried to find the source of the voice, "Where did that voice come from?"

"A little confused are we?" the voice chuckled, "I'll give you a little hint, look on the dresser" amber eyes blinked, but looked at the dresser. Walking closer his eyes fell on a metallic looking sock monkey,

"A toy?" he blinked again

"Hello Wild Tiger" as the eyes lit up and the voice spilled from it Kotetsu jumped in surprise

"I-It talked!" he gasped in surprised as another chuckle filled its ears

"Still as airheaded as usual, how you of all people managed to defeat me is a mystery"

"Wait? Can't be…Maverick" he stressed the last part

"But of course" it seemed to boost, "How have you been Wild Tiger or would you rather I call you Kotetsu"

"Save the polite talk" he said, "How the hell are you still alive, last I heard Lunatic fried your snaky butt"

"Hn, your guess is as good as mind, I woke up in this world of metal and broken parts" he said, "Unfortunately my body was completely burned and beyond repair thanks to that Lunatic. I thought I would die there, unable to move or speak"

"But too my luck I was found by a small, naïve, inhabitant of this area" he said remembering the curious and large green eyes of the little child that found him.

'Small inhabitant?'

"The little girl"

"Right, she found me and with no knowledge of me or how I got there, she nursed me back to health in a sense"

"Huh? But you're a toy" he pointed out

"I believe that has already been established" he said rather annoyed, "Like I said I body was badly damaged and I was on the verge of death, but with the technology in this place my mind was able to be transferred to another stable hub" he said with a slight dark chuckle.

"So what, you've been here this whole time?"

"In a way yes, you see as I got used to this…body" he spoke, "Fortunately for me, my kind host has been so generous to provide with a new, more permenant body"

"What are you up too?"

"I'll tell you since you asked so nicely" he chuckled, "A while back I found out that even though my body is gone, my powers managed to stay intact" he said, amber eyes narrowed as he spoke

"You bastard" he growled, "Does your evil know no end, to even go as far to even use his powers on a little girl" his gritted, but what did he expect after everything he did to everyone else, to the people who trusted him like Barnaby and Barnaby's parent's, killing Samantha and blaming him for her murder, and now…using a little girl, a child…there wasn't any low he would sink too to reach his goals.

"Believe it or not, I didn't have to use my powers" he admitted, "Luckily for me the girl was naïve and overly trusting, all it took was a few pleasant words and she was putty in my hands"

"Why bring me here then? What possible motive could you have for kidnapping me?"

"Oh that" he hummed, "The little girl apparently has a…let's say affection toward you. She sees as a hero, to put it frankly the girls seems to worship you. She would spend hours watching you fight crime and cheer for you for as you rescued the people and did your good deeds" he said, "As I watched her cheer and fawn over you and knowing of her loneliness in this world of pieces and junk, I knew that if I got you here my control over her would be complete"

"For what? What could you possibly want from her!?" he demanded

"Simple, besides a new body, I will harness and control the girl using her advanced knowledge of technology to create an army of machines" he said, "But that's not all my friend, no, using her love for 'Wild Tiger' and the knowledge of your deteriorating powers, at this moment she is constructing a cure to make Next powers permanent!"

'_I mean, I know you only have one minute left and this isn't really not that serious, but…'_

"So you're the one" he realized, "You put that stuff in her head" Maverick only chuckled darkly correcting Kotetsu's notions.

"Asshole!" he growled, unable to listen to him speak so proudly of his plans, grabbing the small metal toy, gripping it tightly,

"Oh have I made you made?"

"You sick bastard!" he yelled, "Using the trust of a child, a little girl for your own twisted desires" he bite out his eyes narrowing, "You deserve to rot in hell!"

"Maybe, but the fact still remains that my plans will come to pass" he said, "And you are going to help me!"

"You're made you poor excuse for a rag doll" he scoffed and rejected, "Why the hell do you even think I would help you?"

"Oh you will, don't forget that little girl believes that you're her father who she loves with all her heart" Kotetsu thought of the little girl, a scowl forming on his face as he leered at Maverick who only chuckled.

"You…"

"I admit I did have to use a small portion of my powers when she began to doubt me…but it still doesn't change that fact that she looks at you as he father. Would you, the ever valiant Wild Tiger, abandon her in this place? To break your heart and throw her away as if she was nothing but trash"

"I swear if you keep talking I'm going to break you into little pieces!" he threatened, "Using her as a pawn! I'll never help you, I'll take her away from this place!"

"Oh I think you'll find that very impossible, because you're not leaving either" he chuckled, suddenly something zoomed from the ceiling hitting the older male in the neck sending him flying back to the floor dropping Maverick in the process.

"What the hell?" he growled slowly sitting up to rub his head, "What was that? What is…" feeling his neck his fingers felt something cold, metallic that circled his neck.

"What the hell is this thing!?" he demanded pulling on whatever was on his neck, a chuckle echoed from the form of Maverick who was now standing…on his own feet or legs.

"How…how can you be moving?"

"Thank your' 'daughter', she designed this temporary body so I could move about" he said folding his tube like arms, "Now as for the device" his eyes glowed a light blue color,

'Is he trying to us his next powers!'

"Oh no you don't!" he said closing his eyes to block the effects

"Clever, but I've a new trick up my sleeve!" suddenly there was a glow around the collar, a sensation moving through Kotetsu body, eyes snapping open.

"W-What's…happening to me!" he struggled trying to get the collar off, "Just a little device I've been working on, with this I will rule everything and everyone" he laughed

Kotetsu continued to struggle on the ground, pulling against the device, legs kicking and body twitching trying to fight the weird feeling in his body.

"Struggling is useless, soon you like everyone else will bow to my whim" after a moment the struggling stopped and Kotetsu remained still on the floor.

"Now rise my new puppet" he commanded, slowly Kotetsu stood up, his amber eyes hazy and dazed.

"With Wild Tiger as my pawn my plan is assured, soon not even the likes of Barnaby or even Ouroboros will be able to stop me!" he laughed

"Papa?" Maverick became silent hearing the voice of the little girl, turning to the re-hypnotized Kotetsu he looked up, "Remember you are her father, her protector, her happiness is your happiness"

"My daughter"

The door opened revealing a head of green, large green eyes looked inside

"Papa?" looking around her eyes feel on a figure standing in the middle of the floor, "Papa!" instantly recognizing Kotetsu.

"Papa? What are you doing up here?" she asked as her father walked up to her, squatting down, the girl gave a surprised peep being picked up. Green met gentle amber,

"Are you okay Papa?" she asked

Kotetsu smiled and nodded, "I'm fine, I was actually looking for you" he said

"Oh" she blinked, "I was looking for you too, I wanted show you a project I've been working on" she said a little shyly as her father chuckled before patting her hair.

"Off course! I'd love to see your projects"

"Really, okay!" she smiled

As the two laughed, talking and smiling, before leaving the room to see the little girl's projects, Maverick sat on his perch.

'Deception, in life sometimes you must take advantage and use a person's weakness's to complete your goals. Just like in business, pawns must be used and sacrificed'

"Just you wait, first I will control Sternbild, I will bring the Hero's to their knees, and the world!" he laughed. But outside, among the pieces of parts and gears a figure stood, his steel gray eyes staring towards the metallic fortress.

'The precious thing, I must protect'

To Be Continued…

Next Time; Dislocation


End file.
